NinjaGo: Freakshow
by Eris Raslad
Summary: An alternate universe based on the NinjaGo comic books! More details inside...there's no way I'll be able to explain it all in this summary.
1. Summary

_In a universe different from the NinjaGo we know..._

_Jay never became a ninja..._

_He pursued his dream as an inventor..._

_Turning Wu down..._

_Wu in turn began to believe that maybe..._

_Maybe the four he was seeking would not be able to stop the evil that was awakening in NinjaGo..._

_So he gave up..._

_Garmadon and the Skeleton Army took over NinjaGo, but when the Great Devourer was awakened they were forced to disperse..._

_And Garmadon fled like a coward..._

_Now the snakes are in charge of NinjaGo, the skeletons under their power..._

_They have Kai's sister...and so he is serving them to ensure Nya's safety._

_Cole is a rebel on the run, fighting when he can and doing his best to stay free._

_Jay is off somewhere god knows where with his machines..._

_And Zane...is a freak in a traveling carnival show._

_This story will center around Zane._

_And how terrible it is to be the lowest of all slaves..._


	2. Prologue

Zane

Most may not know me for who I really am...

I know that the Serpentine don't...

The ringleaders of this traveling circus are cruel...

They don't even see me as human...

The put me in a tank of freezing water.

More often than not I am siting in slush...

And they leave me in there for hours on end...

Letting those gawk at me as they pass by...

The Amazing Zane, my booth proclaims.

The information engraved on my plaque stating I can survive under freezing layers of ice and water for vast periods of time..

Though the truth is I would have drowned many times had it not been for my beautiful sister Elena...whom they gave the job of managing my exhibit out of pity...

But that was the end of their kindness...

To them...we were less than slaves.

We were animals in their eyes.

Theirs to maim and abuse and torture as the pleased lest we didn't give them what they wanted...

I...

Used to fight against them...

So I guess that made me their favorite play thing...

They had to make sure I stayed weak...

My element was ice...

But I could only take so much of the freezing temperatures and ice in my lungs before I was to perish.

I wished every day that Sensei hadn't given up hope...

I try not to...

But in times like these...

Hope is just another useless lie...

Just the same as life...


	3. Chapter 1

Elena

He was so cold.

It felt like I was holding a snowball in my arms.

It was a warm day but Zane was huffing little clouds of white mist when he exhaled...

He was shivering...

And he was much less...

Lucid than usual.

I pressed my lips to the top of his head. "Are you going to be alright, brother...?" I asked him softly, trailing my fingers though his hair, straightening it.

He hated to look disheveled.

His face contorted painfully as his body was seized with another violent shiver.

He made a weak noise, and then spoke.

"Y...yes d-d-dear Elena...I...will not perish..." He hid his face from me, not wanting to show me the weakness in his ice-blue eyes. "I am resilient...f-father made me s-s-so..."

I smiled down at Zane. "I know...father made you well...but you are still more than a machine. You are of flesh and blood just as I...and you need to be as well as you can..."

I sighed softly. "I need to open you up...dry off your mechanics..."

Zane jumped back from me, hugging himself. Worriedly shaking his head.

"N-no. It...it gets colder...I..."

I approached him. "I know it's cold but it is better after the water is gone..."

He ground his teeth together and shut his eyes tightly.

"You do know that? Once it is gone it won't be so terrible...that and there isn't a risk of wear on your support system..."

He nodded, reluctantly returning to my side.

He managed a chuckle. "You kn-know...I am your elder...but...it seems more and more...that you are much wiser than I..."

I removed the prosthetic from his face and used a dry towel to soak up the water from the crevices of his optic device. "I am not wiser..." I told him. "But my mind is not being subjected to the torture you are enduring..." I blinked back my tears but one managed to escape. "I would do anything to assure your wellness...I would gladly take your place in that tank..."

He reached up with his trembling hands and cupped my cheeks.

They were so cold and stiff it felt as if they would break off.

He leaned close and kissed my forehead. "You are too good for this world, Elena..." He murmured. "I wish you would just...escape from here...and go somewhere safe..."

I shook my head. "I would never leave without you..." I could feel my eyebrows furrowing with determination. "And...we will get out of here one day...I swear it..."

He looked down at the ground, letting his hands drop.

He traced invisible swirling patterns on the vinyl tent bottom. "Perhaps...we could get the rest of this water out of me...?"

I laughed, but it was a laugh with no heart...only sadness.

"Of course. And then you can sleep..."

"Make sure you stay with me..." He said, but in reality...I knew he was asking me, begging almost...

I began to remove the tattered top of his gi, revealing scarring and fresh wounds from brutal whip lashings. "Of course...of course I will stay..."


	4. Chapter 2

Zane

The others in the "Freakshow" were all kind individuals...

They cared deeply for one another.

They were a family.

Even if not in relation by blood.

It was one of the few things I could take pleasure in in this new world...

To see others with so much love and hope still in their hearts.

It gave me hope too...

Maybe I would escape from this hell one day.

I would take them with me.

And I would give them a home somehow.

Make them feel loved and appreciated as they did me.

Give them what they truly deserved...

But...

The reality was that the future was not as bright as we wanted.

No one was strong enough to take on the entire Serpentine army...

There were a few who were still strong enough to fight but even if they banded together the odds would not be in their favor.

A little girl clung to my arm now...

She was about four feet tall with curly tendrils of red on her head and sparkling green eyes.

Since her father had been killed by the snakes so they could have her as a freak Elena and I had adopted her as our unofficial daughter.

"The scaly children won't let me sleep..." She whispered. "They throw rocks at my cage..."

I lifted my arm, which was still traumatized and chilled from the cold water I was so often submerged in, and I tousled her curly mane. "Do not be bothered, sweet Kizu...think of it this way...they think you are beautiful...and if it is male children well...males often are bad at flirting at a young age...and if they are female...they are jealous..."

She hummed.

"You are a gorgeous child..."

Kizu pressed her face into the inner bend of my elbow, I could feel her timid smile forming. "Thank you..."

I chuckled. "And if neither of those end up being the cases...then throw the rocks back at them."

She giggled. "Okay..."

At that moment a gong sounded, and we all turned to see general Fangtom holding the latter.

"Get in your positionssssss everyone." One head hissed.

"The carnival isssss about to open."

Kizu and I exchanged glanced and I began to stand.

She grasped my hand. "Come and find me when the show ends..." She requested. "I'll help Aunt Elena keep you warm..."

I offered her a loving smile.

She was too good for this world too...

I was glad that her father was no longer around to beat her senseless but I still had no clue what the serpent's plans for her were...

"I will send for you as soon as I can..."


	5. Chapter 3

PIXAL

The world was boring...

Well...

My life was boring...

Since my father...my creator kept me so sheltered...

But today he was taking me to see the carnival.

I'd never seen a carnival before...

But from what I had stored in my data banks and from what I'd researched they were a place for merriment and wonder...

And I was very excited.

My father had built a motorized wheelchair for himself just so he could take me to see the sights and possibly ride on the rides...

The place was quaint...

Pleasant.

So much more appealing than the tower in which I lived.

The place had many snakes and few humans running the attractions.

And one in particular caught my eyes...

The big bannered tent labeled: Freakshow.

I reached down and lightly grasped my creator's arm. "Professor Borg...can we go in?"

He gave me a crooked smile, adjusting his glasses. "Of course, dear." He said. "And, PIXAL, I wish you would not call me professor...you are like a daughter to me."

I bowed my head. "Father...does not seem fitting..."

"Well then please call me Cyrus."

I nodded. "Yes sir..."

Cyrus gave the serpent at the entrance of the tent a ticket each and we entered.

There were a numerous amount of anomalies in the tent.

There was a woman, undoubtedly human, but with purple snake scales over forty percent of her body.

She glared at me snarkily.

Then there was a very tall and skinny lady, who was bending and twisting herself in nearly impossible ways.

A distortionist.

Then there was a very tiny human in a cage.

As I passed her she reached out and touched my hand.

I looked down at her.

She was smiling.

"Hello..." She cooed. "What's your name?"

I smiled back down at the girl. "I am PIXAL. Primary Integrative Xternal Assistant Life-Form...what is yours?"

"I'm Kizu..." She told me. "I'm seventeen years old."

She was extremely minuscule for someone of her age.

And she was very sweet.

I took her extended hand, shaking it. "I am very pleased to meet you..."

"Thank you." She said. "It's nice to meet you too."

My father urged me along and the next "freak" certainly was the most eye-catching.

It was a man.

A man with snowy hair and skin that looked like it was carved from marble...marble inlaid with veins of garnet.

His eyes were closed and his legs were crossed.

Fingers interlaced in his lap.

He wasn't wearing a shirt.

But he had on a loose pair of white bottoms that looked similar to pajamas or perhaps sweatpants.

He was strange and beautiful.

His attraction sign read: The Amazing Zane in bold read letters.

A little stand was engraved with writing and I read it aloud.

"This man, who has the element of snow, has an amazing ability to stay beneath the surface of water for many hours at a time without assistance of oxygen. This water is 32° Fahrenheit, exactly freezing. Making him even more remarkable, because he is impervious to the hypothermia and eventual death caused by freezing temperatures."

I hummed.

This certainly was interesting.

But the more I looked at the man.

The more I realized...

He did not look alive.

"Oh..." I sounded, getting worried. I tapped lightly on the glass. "Sir...?" I called, hoping for a response...but there was not one.

"Sir?" I asked again, tapping harder.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open.

They were startling crystal blue.

And he was no longer so relaxed...

He looked shocked, as if he had just been awakened from sleep.

He stared at me for a second, lips parted.

Then air began to escape his lungs and he started to panic, thrashing against the glass that held him.

The top of the frozen water began to crack, and then it shattered.

Soon after the glass did too.

And he fell at my feet, heaving and choking and shivering violently.

The glass cutting his skin.

He did not seem so impervious now.

After he was finished coughing he looked up at me.

"I...I...I am sorry...ma'am...you...s-s-startled me..."

I stared down at him in shock. "It...it is fine...Amazing Zane..."

He took a deep breath, and he exhaled a small cloud. "No, ma'am...I am not amazing..." He told me. "I am...just Zane."

I smiled. "I am PIXAL...nice to-"

Before I could complete my greeting, a pair of serpents entered the tent and approached us rapidly.

The Amazing Zane scrambled backwards, pressing his back to the platform.

"N-no..." He pleaded, raising his hands. "P-please! I was just frightened. I-I can fix this!"

The two snakes grabbed his wrists and hoisted him up, dragging him from the tent.

He stopped pleading with them, looking back at me.

His eyes were fearful, but they had something else in them too.

"It was nice to meet you too..." He called just before the snakes forced him to face back forward.

I wondered where they were taking him...

I hoped they intended to remove the glass from his skin.

But my father soon took my hand and led me from the tent.

"Come, PIXAL, let us go see some other sights. Hmm?"

I nodded. "Yes...yes Professor..."


	6. Chapter 4

Zane

I was chilled to the bone...

I could feel the metal inside me cooling my muscles...

But I was not numb enough...

Because each lashing that I took was a searing, burning, agonizing sensation that did not cease when the whip was drawn back.

I may have stated it before...

The Serpentine thought of us as less than human...

We were only alive for their entertainment.

And this is how they entertained themselves with me.

"STOP!" A loud, slightly accented voice called. The four snakes surrounding me lowered their weapons and backed from me, and I trembled from the shock of the blows and the cold, then lifted my head to see the general in charge of them all.

Pythor grinned. "How are we doing...? Zane...Julien..."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh...I-I-I...I'm...f-f-fine..." I spat on the stone floor. "Can't f-feel a thing..."

He chuckled. "Oh well that's great." He murmured. "Having fun? You need anything? Something to eat?"

I tried to smile. I was going to try a joke...

Though my humor was not the best.

"Perhaps...a little ice water...?"

He threw his head back and laughed heartily.

It was a cruel...

Heartless laugh.

"A joker I see!" He shouted, suddenly growing very serious. "It is too bad for you, dear boy, that I do not like rebellion..."

He swished his long tail and turned his back to me. "You can finish with him, boys...I have no use to speak to him anymore..."

I heard them approach...and I heard them raise their weapons...

But then I heard a door open...

And a familiar voice rang out.

"STOP!"

I turned my head and saw Elena there.

I shook my head at her, but she ran to my side anyway.

"Please, just stop this." She cast glances at all of the snakes. "I'll fix your tank,

I'll do what you want..." She used her body as a shield between me and them. "Just leave him alone..."

The serpents exchanged looks of contemplation, then threw the whips to the ground.

"We will inform you of your punissssssshhhhment later, Misssss Julien..."

Nodding, she went behind me and untied my hands.

I fell forward to the ground, as I was no longer bound upright.

She slipped herself under my arm, and lifted me up.

I could only cry out.

The sudden movement was stretching my wounds...

She took me from the cavern and walked me back to our tent.

I wanted to offer my assistance...

But I had been bound so long...

I had difficulty making my legs function.

"Y...you should have...j-j-just let th-them finish..."

"No." She said. "I should not have."

She set me down on our tiny bed, a bed that was not exactly a mattress...it was more of a cot with a blanket folded over it.

She left my side for a moment...coming back with some medicines she'd made from nearby plants.

She took some from the little jar, rubbing it between her hands like lotion, then blowing on it to make it warm.

Then she applied it to my lashings.

I tried hard not to cry out, she did not need to know how bad they were, but I only suppressed it so much...

And a groan escaped my lips.

"Shhhh..." She said. "You're gonna be okay. I'm going to make you better..."

"Elen..." Came a soft voice from my left.

It was Kizu.

Elena gestured her in. "Come here, honey..." She cooed. "I need your good sight for this. There are little cuts I can't feel..."

Kizu came to my side, crawling up on the cot and taking some of the paste and going to work.

I kept my head in one direction.

It hurt to move it.

PIXAL was standing outside of my exhibit.

Her silvery face was contorted in disbelief and horror.

She started to walk our way, but a man in a wheelchair rolled to her side and took her hand.

"Let us go." He said. "I think we've seen enough excitement for one day."

We made eye contact for a split second.

She bowed her head moments later.

"Yes...father..."


	7. Chapter 5

PIXAL

"Father! Did you even see what he looked like!?"

"PIXAL, please calm down."

"No. He was awful and bleeding! Those serpents hurt him!"

Cyrus put a hand on my knee. "It is not our concern...just know that why-ever he is there, it is most likely for a worthy cause."

I shook my head. "No..." I brushed his hand off of me. "No one deserves to be hurt like that."

Cyrus scratched his head briefly. "Your emotions are starting to get out of hand again, my dear daughter..." He hummed. "I believe it is time for tuning..."

My hands clenched tightly into fists. "I don't want...to be tuned...father..." I said through clenched teeth.

He chuckled awkwardly, adjusting his glasses. "Girl, I thought you stated father wasn't a name befitting to me..."

I glared at him. "It gets my point across more quickly..."

He sighed. "I...only want what is best for you...if our emotions remain in check...we won't feel the need to rebel...and in turn..." He gave me a sad look. "We don't end up like that freak at the carnival..."

He gestured for me to stand. "It's why I installed the chip in myself, and it is why you need to be tuned, now come..."

I exhaled a shuddery breath.

One that was, of course, not necessary, but, like the word "father", it got my point across.

"I don't want to..."

"I know you don't...but we have to stay safe..."

I closed my eyes, taking another deep breath.

"Yes, sir...let us go."

X.X.X

_A.N. - Makes sense...right? ^^* XD_


	8. Chapter 6

Elena

I held him close.

This happened more often than I'd liked.

But he did not complain much...

I cradled him.

He was much larger than I but he preferred to be held rather than to hold.

So he laid his head on my chest and used me as a pillow.

And I tried my best to comfort him.

My sight was awful...

The Serpentine had someone transplant something into them so I could see but it was only shapes...

Colors...

Harsh versus soft...

And sometimes I would accidentally brush against on of Zane's lashings and he would hiss and I would immediately feel terrible.

"I'm sorry..." I said. "I'm sorry, Zane, I-I didn't-"

"I...know you didn't..." He said softly, not a hint of anger or frustration in his voice. "I know."

"I'm sorry..."

He looked up at me, eyes shining in the darkness. "Why didn't you let them finish...?"

I choked on the air I was breathing. "I...I didn't know that...your punishments were that bad...and...you were gone for so long this time-"

He shot upright, slamming his fist into the concrete wall that composed the back of our room, that held up our tent; it made a very loud noise.

"They're going to punish you now!" He shouted. "You interrupted them, and now you are going to get punished for it!"

I bowed my head shamefully. "It was the only way..." I blubbered. "They were hurting you-"

"They ALWAYS hurt me, sister!" The anger in his face melted away to pure grief. "But they haven't hurt you yet...I told you to leave it be for a reason..."

I steeled my gaze. "Well what's done is done." I took his now bloodied hand. "We will share in the punishment." I used my free hand to lift his chin and force eye contact. "You are not strong enough to endure it by yourself..."

"You're wrong..." He said. "I could take the punishments of everyone in this vicinity...I could...and I would...they are innocent..."

"You no less than they." I told the former ninja. "You were just brave enough to fight..." I exhaled slowly. "Lay back down. You need to heal and rest..."

He silently obeyed, curling up into a tight ball to help retain body heat, and I curled around him.

"Is...Kizu still here...?" He asked out of nowhere.

I nodded. "She is...she's sleeping over in the corner of the tent..."

He sighed. "Wake her, tell her to come up here." He paused so that he could work through a shiver. "She either sleeps on the ground or in a cage...this time she sleeps in a bed..."

I nodded and went to get her.

She looked so peaceful, but I knew underneath her angelic face, in the recesses of her sleeping mind she was having nightmares, just as the rest of us were...

"Kizu, sweetie?" I called softly, shaking her. "Wake up, Zane wants you..."

She stirred and wiped at her eyes, blinking up at me tiredly. "Ma'am...?"

"Zane doesn't think you should be sleeping on the ground baby..."

She shook her head. "I...no...he'll get cramped, and his wounds-"

"Miss Borg." Zane rejoined. "I will be perfectly fine, if not a little "cramped" as you say, get off the floor and come here..."

She stood. "Yes sir."

She rushed to his side and he lifted her up, cradling her like the child she never got to be.

I went to them and crawled back onto the cot.

"You shouldn't be risking your health and comfort just because I have a few minor cuts..." He said.

Kizu nestled herself into his arms like a bird in a nest. She looked so at home...so safe...

"They aren't minor..." She retorted. "I may be little, but I'm not a kid, and I'm not ignorant like one..." She sniffled. "They cut deep this time."

Zane rolled on to his back, gesturing for me to lay with them, so I did.

He held us both. "It doesn't matter to me how deep they decide to gouge my flesh...I just want to protect my family...no matter what..."

"Well, uncle Zane, you had better not die..." Kizu demanded. "Because if you do I will find you in your afterlife and trust me...I will not be happy with you."

Zane found some sort of strength and laughed. "I am not going to die." He told her. "At least...not physically..."

I knew what he was saying.

Although KizuKeru may not have.

I could see that Zane was slowly dying on the inside...


	9. Chapter 7

Zane

The show was over for now...

My beating was over for now...

It was the weekend and that meant I had a small amount of time to relax.

If one could call it relaxing during times such as these...

So I went to the river adjacent to our carnival camp.

We always travelled near it so we would have water...

And it spanned the cast continent of NinjaGo and onward to others and into the oceans...

So no matter where we traveled I would have somewhere to soak and stop thinking...

It must be a wonder to anyone reading how I could even tolerate the thought if water after staying in the tank for so long, day in and day out...

The difference was that this was in the open...

And in this particular section...

The water was warm...

I approached the water's edge, staring out past the bank and taking in the cruel beauty of the sunlight reflecting off of the surface...

The one beautiful thing that the Serpentine didn't destroy and here it ran...

Mocking me...mocking the life I used to have...

It was a willing slave...

And it pitied me no more than it's masters did...

Still I succumbed to it, stripping down and entering the waters, heated from below.

The numbness helped dull my pain, but heat brought about a massaging type of relief that no medicine could give.

Though I did hate seeing my blood stain the crystal clear liquid in swirling patterns...

I sank in to the river, shoulder's deep, and sighed.

I could have just stayed there forever...right?

No...

It was foolish to think the snakes wouldn't find me...

But the very thought was enticing...enticing being the least appropriate word I could have used.

And if I could escape to this heated refuge then I would take others to escape with me...

And we could make a life of it...

Alice managed fairly well with Cole...

Even with her shoddy mechanical limbs...

I was growing weary, although the dawn had broken merely hours ago.

Heat, I failed to mention, has a drug-like quality that releases chemicals in the brain to increase one's desire to sleep.

At least in most of the cases I've observed...

Heat increases the likelihood of someone to sleep.

That is why those who sleep alone have so much trouble in the camp...

It gets quite cold at night.

Anyways, my drowsiness is getting the better of me.

I was growing weary...

But I could not rest yet, for my ears were picking up on a noise that was not present before.

The crackling of dead leaves.

I arose just slightly from the water, looking around.

Alert...

Ready for any attack...

The mist about the lake was thick, though, and I could not see my adversary until she was standing right on the river's edge.

It was that android female from before...

Silver exoskeleton, green eyes that lit up the darkness beneath the sun-shielding canopy.

She wore a purple dress with silver trimmings.

She was lovely.

"My scanners indicated that you were here." She said, her voice slightly monotone. "I came to see if you were alright..."

I sunk back into the blissful waters, sighing. "I am fine. But you should not be here, your master may get you into trouble."

She laughed. "Master? You mean Professor Cyrus? He is hardly a master of mine...more so a father than anything...he may tune my emotions, but I am not as easily controlled as he believes."

She sat on the edge of the water, the soft waves lapping at her knees.

"Come here, Amazing Zane."

I ignored the heat creeping into my face and lazed over to her.

"I don't want to repeat this to you...but I am afraid I am more humble than my display proclaims..."

She watched me as I climbed on to the riverbank. "Well, "Just Zane" does not seem to fit you."

I chuckled sheepishly. "Ma'am, I did not mean "Just Zane" as my title, no, my name is Zane, and that is the only title I wish to be called by."

She nodded. "Alright..."Zane", you seem to be injured..." She reached a hand out for me, grazing cool, metal fingers across a wide gash on my arm.

I winced. "Might not want to touch that...it stings..."

She looked me up and down. "You...are strange...you are organic...but inside you you harbor vast amounts of technology capable of acting as a separate being..." Her eyebrows furrowed. "It is advanced...and yet primitive compared to my own structure." She made eye contact. "You are different...why are you different?"

I shrugged. "Perhaps...different manufacturers could be the cause...?"

It was a terrible joke...

But I think she understood, because she laughed for a short moment before examining my wounds again.

"Do they hurt terribly?" She asked, prodding at my lashings with light fingers.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to ignore the itchy stinging of the cuts. "Truly, they did feel very unpleasant until I came here...my sister...has her medicine, and it works well by itself..." I gestured to the river. "But I think that the water helps it somehow..."

She hummed softly. "I...am glad that you are okay." A pause. "I saw how badly it bothered you when it was still fresh...I..."

The female's body cringed just barely, as if being controlled by some unseen force. "If I could have...I would have assisted..."

Her posture returned to normal.

"But my father deemed it necessary to leave...and I had to follow."

She then stood, brushing herself off. "I deem it necessary I go home now..." She turned but I stood and called after her.

"Wait, ma'am?"

She stopped. "Yes?"

"I am afraid...during our first encounter...there was much excitement...and your name slipped my mind."

I could see her backwards glance and her shy smile.

"I am PIXAL." She said. "And I do intend to visit you again."

She was fast, and I was too but I was too weak to follow, by the time I passed through the mist and back into the camp she was gone.

But I was pleased she came to see me...

And even more so to realize she intended to come again.


	10. Chapter 8

Elena

He'd been gone all day.

I was worried.

He never was gone for this long unless he was being punished...

But I doubted that that was possible because today was an off day for the entire camp...

Kizu was getting scared...

And we both remained so until we saw him shuffle through the tent entrance.

"Jesus, Zane!" I cried, rushing toward him and pulling him into a right embrace.

He emitted a soft cry, reminding me that he was injured, and I leapt back from him, covering my mouth with my hands.

"I'm so sorry, brother..." I whispered, reaching for him again, gently. "I forgot about your ailments..."

He smiled, taking my hands and holding them against his chest. "Dear Elena, don't be so worrisome. I...did not mean to frighten you..."

I sniffled, trying not to cry. "You were gone so long...I thought the snakes-"

He shushed me then. "No, nothing like that. I was at the river...the water was warm...and the android woman came to visit me."

I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration. I remembered who he was talking about, just not her appearance. Not exactly.

"The...woman in the purple..."

This brought much joy into Zane's expression. "Yes. She is wonderful. She seems to understand me..." He chuckled, dropping my hands finally. "Well...not all of me...but...I do like her...she makes for pleasant company..."

I allowed a smile to play across my lips. "I am glad you found companionship..." I looked around the tent. "Companionship outside of this place...it will be good for you..."

He nodded. "Yes...I believe it will be...even though we will be moving to the next town soon...I believe...it will be good..."

X.X.X

_A.N. - Sorry about taking forever to update my loves! I've had a sad bit of writer's block lately. I've managed to post a small bit of stuff on my joint account with CameronNinjaDragons, but I must admit she did most of the writing. Here is a short chapter, and I'll try to get more up soon._


	11. Chapter 9

_A.N. - Sorry for my lack of updates again. XD I'm still trying and here is this. I'll try to update the ones you guys requested asap._

X.X.X

Zane

_My eyes were shut tightly but I could feel water around me._

_AMy body stung as if I just received a lashing, which was not unusual, but it was dark; I could not see the sunlight shining red through my lidded eyes._

_"Zane? Zane wake up."_

_I was so comfortable, despite my lashings the water was so warm and I wanted so desperately to fall deeper into sleep._

"Please Zane get up." The voice begged more forcefully. It was my sister Elena.

I opened my eyes and she stood above me. I was no longer in the heated river but on my makeshift bed, previously dozing.

"S-sorry..." She whispered. "You were so still and cold..."

I smiled sleepily. "You need not worry about me, sister." I mumbled. "I would not perish now, I need to stay and keep everyone safe."

She scoffed. "You are the one that needs saving." She replied, leaning down and kiss in my forehead. "I have to go, the General wants me for my punishment..."

Now I was awake.

I sat up swiftly, ignoring the pain in my wounds. "I-I will go for you. I will not allow your harm."

She shook her head. "You are hurt enough. I will be back before the carnival opens."

She pushed me back down and tucked me in, then leaving the tent. I could only worry for her.

Hopefully the punishment would not be so severe.


	12. Chapter 10

Elena

The walk was the most agonizing part I thought. The anxiety of having to travel to the tent where I would receive my punishment.

I supposed it would be worse though if I'd had to sit and wait for them to drag me there.

It was torture within a torture.

I pushed back the entrance flap and timidly stepped in, possibly shaking visibly. I could still only see blurry shapes and ran-together colors, but I didn't need to see well to know there were serpentine here; I could hear them hiss as they breathed.

"Welcome back my dear..." Purred the familiar voice of the general calmly. "So glad you could make it."

I shakily sighed, clenching my fists to try and steady myself. "I only want to protect my brother..." I replied. "What is my punishment?" I asked.

He chuckled and I inhaled and exhaled slowly once more.

"Oh well your punishment will be the remainder of what your brother had earned. He had thirty lashings, but you interrupted at about...seventeen."

I blinked and a tear rolled down my cheek. "Okay...that leaves me thirteen."

"Good!" He exclaimed, making me jump. "She can do math!" He paused. "Tie her up!" He then commanded. "Can't have her trying to run away..."

I whimpered pathetically as their clawed hands grabbed me, pinning my arms behind me and binding them.

They moved me somewhere and knelt me down, then tying my ankles also.

"Thirteen, Miss Julien..." Pythor sneered. "Brace yourself..."

But nothing could ever prepare me for this kind of agony.

The whip cracked again and again, shredding my clothing and splitting my skin open.

They stuck my back, my arms, some strikes sliced deeper than others, and some even wrapped around me and slashed my chest and stomach.

Finally the whipping stopped.

"We are done here." The general stated. "Groundskeeper!"

I heard footsteps, normal ones, and a new voice rang out.

"Y-yeah General?" A pause, and then he spoke again. "Ah jeez man..."

"Groundskeeper untie this girl and take her back to her tent behind the Amazing Zane exhibit."

"Y-yes sir."

The serpents slithered off and I felt this new person working at my binds

"They really messed you up lady..." He murmured, the ropes falling loose.

He hoisted me up and I wailed weakly, knees wobbly and pretty much useless.

"Sorry!" He exclaimed, trying again to lift me more gingerly. "Just don't pass out, that's the worst thing to do."

I nodded in response, trying not to scream again.

"I'm Dareth..." He said. "Who're you?"

We began to walk.

"I-I'm...Elena..." I whispered.

He hummed in contemplation. "Well after I drop you off I gotta make sure the perimeter is clean before I open everything. But I'll check on ya every so often."

I sobbed quietly. "Th...thank you..."

"No problem babe."

We were close to my tent. I recognized the way the colors were shaped.

"Elena!" Kizu's voice rang out. "Oh my god!"

I could hear her running but Dareth took an arm from around me and raised it. "Ey little lady she's hurt, don't get too close."

I smiled. "It's okay..." I told him in a low voice. "She's taking care of my brother..."

Kizu, despite her tiny stature, helped Dareth carry me into the tent, where Zane took me and laid me down on my stomach, which was significantly less damaged than my back. He must have been feeling better.

"How many did they give you?" He asked worriedly.

"Th-thirteen."

"Christ..."

"H-hey she should be fine if you keep her medicated and warm..." Dareth said. "I'll come back and check up once in a while, see ya."

And he left.

Now to experience a whole new torture; the awful burn of the ointment I'd made as it was rubbed into my wounds.


End file.
